The 4th of July in Maine, USA

We returned in pouring rain back to Christie's Campground before dark on Sunday, July 2. As we unpacked the truck, settling back into our normal trailer life. we looked forward to a good nights sleep in our own bed. The three day trip to Quebec City was a whirlwind but a "bucket list" item so I was very happy we got to spend that much time in this very special place. Karen was really impressed. During the visit she kept dreaming (rêver) of coming back to live there for a month!

Monday, July 3rd was a day of rest and we recharged our personal batteries with sleeping in, reading, walking and some light errands into town. We wanted to get a feel of the campground culture before leaving on Thursday. This campground has been around since 1929 and many of the campers are seasonal. Meaning, they return every year to spend their summers here. Many of the trailers are here all year round but empty during the winter months. We saw many family groups camping together with all their children and "toys". This is a very "family friendly" campground.

The weather started improving and the traffic on the lake picked up with powerboats and PWC (Personal Water Craft) or Jet Skis. Kid on bikes and golf carts started moving around as the activity levels of the campers increased. The temperature in Maine was a bit of a surprise to me. We now had high 80's and even some low 90 degree temperatures with humidity in the 80% range. We ended the evening watching the musical 1776 to start our Independence Day celebration.

The 4th of July was another low-key day just relaxing and hanging out. Karen found a notice inviting campers to a potluck at 5 PM before fireworks at 9 PM. She prepared a large salad to share and we attended. Got to meet some of the seasonal families and had a great meal together in the recreation room by the front office. We didn't feel the usual camaraderie of a RV park with full-timers coming and going. This environment was more of a "clique" with the seasonal campers. Not as openly inclusive as other places we've visited.

The Independence Day fireworks that evening was a seriously impressive event. You knew the expectations were high just by the number of boats on the lake waiting for the show. They didn't spare any expensive and it had to be the longest I've ever experienced. Karen said it lasted a good 45 minutes. We had a big tree blocking our view from our campsite, so we moved down the road towards the mortar launching area and got a pretty good view of the whole show. I frankly got bored after 15 minutes and headed back to the trailer. What an old fart!

We spent Wednesday, July 5 prepping for our departure the next day. Before leaving Christie's we needed to provision up for the next leg of the journey. We went into town for truck fuel, the water refill station at the grocery store and the Salvation Army store to drop off items and look for some more used books.

We concluded our evening with a visit to the Angler Restaurant for dinner. Now when you're in Maine. the visit wouldn't be complete without a "Lobstah" dinner. Karen and I shared a meal of two Lobster rolls with two sides to check off a "required" activity in Maine! I also ordered a cup of Clam Chowder to complete the experience and wasn't disappointed. I had forgotten how delicious fresh Maine lobster can truly be. We see a few more 'lobstah' meals in our future while we're in this state..

On Thursday morning, July 6 we slept in again (retirement life is sooo....hard). But eventually had to get up to start packing the trailer for moving day. We are continuing east about 137 miles to Hilltop Campground in Robbinston just south of Calais, Maine and close to the Canadian border with New Brunswick Province.